


The Courageous will Rise with the Knowledge to Stand

by Painted_Scars27



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Gay Male Character, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Minor Character(s), Other, POV, Post-Movie(s), Pre-Relationship, Romantic Fluff, Sarcasm, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28977558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Painted_Scars27/pseuds/Painted_Scars27
Summary: I don't know what possessed me to kiss him. I figured out long ago that I fell in love with Izzy. I just wanted him to know about it before graduation. Who knows where life is going to take us once we leave high school? If I never see him again, I want him to know that I love him. "I-izzy?" I cleared my throat softly. "Y…you kissed me…" Izzy breathed. Rated T for now. Tai POV
Relationships: Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Takenouchi Sora, Izumi Koushirou | Izzy Izumi/Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya, Kido Jou | Joe Kido/Tachikawa Mimi, Takaishi Takeru | T.K. Takaishi/Yagami Hikari | Kari Kamiya
Kudos: 6





	1. It takes Courage

**Author's Note:**

> **I am moving this story over from my fanfiction profile // penname was Ebony-Rosez // and will probably be deleting what I have on there soon, but am intending on continuing this story and some others here**
> 
> DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I merely decided to use the wonderful premise and write a fanfiction about some of my favorite characters. Carrying on their lives, as a what if and their lives growing up.
> 
> A/N: I have loved this couple for a long time and it has taken me forever to come up with the idea. But here is it. TAISHIRO! Digimon is one of my all-time favorite shows in the world and I hope that you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> This has the original Digimon Adventure Digidestined as well as season two. When I started writing this story back in 2015 Digimon Adventure Tri was only coming out soon, and I got inspired. Then life got in the way and so did some writer's block (sorry everyone that had been reading, I still appreciate you) - but here I am, hoping to (finally) continue this 
> 
> **Main couple: Taichi “Tai” Kamiya /Koushiro “Izzy” Izumi**
> 
> *elements of Yamato “Matt” Ishida/Sora Takenouchi, Joe Kido/Mimi Tachikawa, Takeru “T.K.” Takaishi/Hikari “Kari” Kamiya
> 
> If you don’t like gay fanfiction, well this isn’t the story for you that’s for sure.

_Tap, tap, tap… tap, tap, tap…_

That is all that could be heard in the quiet apartment this late at night. A series of lightning-fast taps and clicks, here and there. Every now and then there was a frustrated groan or growl that escaped the lips of the young man creating said ‘taps and clicks’.

I had just gotten home from a late-night jam session with the band, only to come home and find out that my hard-working boyfriend was still, well, working. Typical; I swear if he was not working for his job, he was working for fun on some project that he set his mind to, and don’t get me wrong. I love that he works hard, but sometimes it would just be nice to spend some quality time away from his computer.

I walked into our residence, completely devoid of light except for the office space that was only illuminated by the screen of his systems.

He had not heard me yet, or if he had he hadn’t acknowledged my presence as I walked up behind him. You could spot that red hair anywhere. It was flaming red.

Shuffling over to his form, I decided to cover his eyes. He always hated when I messed up his rhythm, but he was always so damn cute when he got flustered. I couldn’t help myself tonight.

His body went rigid immediately at the contact of my tan hands over his dark eyes.

“Tai! I wasn’t finish—“ I spun his swivel chair around and cut him off with a kiss “hello” before his protest could be finalized.

“How long have you been sitting on your computer in the dark?” I asked, hitting the nearest light switch causing the love of my life to cower under the shelter of the hoodie he was sporting of mine.

“A couple hours… you’re late.” Izzy muttered, slowly lifting his head to allow his eyes to adjust to the brightness. “Band practice run long?”

“Yeah, sorry, Matt made some alterations to two of the songs tonight and we had to practice the set for the concert coming up this weekend.” I replied, plopping down on the bean bag chair beside my boyfriend, who shot me an exasperated look.

“Did the concert get bumped up? I thought it wasn’t for another month.” The redhead reached over and pulled the sweatband I was wearing around my forehead down over my eyes, playfully. I brought the light, and he was plunging me into darkness. His comfort zone.

I chuckled but nodded. “Nah, you have the timing right. The tour starts next month. This is a special concert for Sora. Matt’s planning on proposing so he decided to do a small, more private concert at that café we always frequent. Friends and family are invited along with whomever gets their hands on the tickets he puts out for sale. Special guests only, you could say.”

Izzy glanced over at me, finally lifting the sweatband from my eyes, before pulling it off my head completely. He had a questioning look on his face. It was not one I was used to, and he had a lot of curious expressions that I have become quite familiar with over the years.

“What?” I asked, reaching over, and making the chair move closer to me with him in it.

“I… it’s nothing. Matt must be excited to propose to Sora,” He replied, leaning back in the chair, absentmindedly touching the mouse on his computer to keep it active.

There was something he wanted to say and usually he said exactly what was on his mind, so this must be important.

“Yeah, he’s excited,” I touched his hand to bring his attention to me, “Hey, Iz… what’s wrong? You know I worry when you get quiet like this. Tell me, you know you can tell me anything.”

The redhead’s gaze dropped from mine, drifted back up to the computer screen, and then slowly found its way back to me.

“Are we ever going to tell our friends about us?” he asked in a small voice.

I certainly was not used to that sound. I heaved a gentle sigh and pulled him down onto my lap. It was a question that had been on my mind recently as well.

You see, Izzy and my relationship started off pretty rocky. Not to say between us that they had been tough, but circumstances surrounding it definitely had given us challenge after challenge.

After we found out that we were chosen to be Digidestined and our trip to the Digital World happened and then returning back to our world, meeting our Digimon, and the second batch of Digidestined that brought Davis, Yolei, and Cody into the mix…

Well, he and I just became close. Our entire group was still remarkably close. We were all friends with all the crazy stuff that we have lived through and survived. It had been two years after we saved the Digital World, after life went back to being “normal” that Izzy and I started talking and he confided in me that he was gay.

Afraid of what the others might say, due to some bad experiences he had in previous years, he was hesitant to say anything to anyone else. It was then that I told him that I was, too. Everyone always thought that I had the biggest crush on Sora while we were growing up, including Izzy, so when I told him that I was just like him… well, he was mildly surprised.

Sora was my friend, but she wasn’t really my type.

Despite all of that, him and I got awfully close. Izzy and I had hung out all the time. Since Mimi had been traveling with her family a lot, Joe had graduated before us, Sora had always been involved in sports, and Matt was way involved in the band he started, it was mostly the two of us left. He helped me get through high school. I was a terrible student.

We even got the experience of graduating together, which thinking back… Izzy could have graduated with Joe, so he held himself back to graduate with me… which makes me smile like a fool of course. He is my sweet computer geek. A brilliant man.

But it was the day of graduation that he and I had become an ‘us’.

* * *

_~~Flashback~~_

_“Ah man! I can’t find my cap!” I shouted, rushing around my disheveled room. As usual I had misplaced something important and time was ticking!_

_We had practiced walking for graduation earlier that morning and now it was time to get ready for the official ceremony. And here I couldn’t find what I needed!_

_I let out a frustrated groan and laid back on my bed with a thump._

_The door creaked open, revealing my younger sister, Kari, who just giggled at my antics and twirled the exact cap I had been looking for around her pointer finger._

_“Looking for this?” she asked with a knowing smile._

_“You found it! Where did I put it?” I hopped up and grabbed the cap, hugging her enthusiastically._

_She giggled again._

_“It almost got washed with your dirty laundry. Mom was about to put it in the washing machine.”_

_I smacked my forehead._

_“Damn it. I wouldn’t have even thought to look there… and Mom… bless her soul, she wouldn’t have thought twice about washing this. Wait - why is she doing laundry at a time like this?! We need to go! Mom!”_

_I ran out of my bedroom with Kari at my heels, frantically trying to get my mother to understand that we needed to go._

_My time management skills were sorely lacking, and clearly, I got them from my mother. In times like these it was painfully obvious._

_The phone rang and Kari left my side to go and answer it while I urged my mother to go change from her everyday stay-at-home mom attire so that we would be able to get down to the high school._

_“Tai, the phone is for you!” Kari’s voice shouted from the living room and I trudged over and grabbed the receiver, panic still causing me to be on edge._

_“What?” was all I could muster._

_The voice on the other end sounded amused._

_“Did you lose something, again?” came the familiar voice of my friend Koushirou Izumi, or Izzy._

_I let out a sigh but started laughing despite myself. “Shut up… I lost my cap for like five minutes. Hey, are you ready to go?”_

_“Am I ready? Of course,” he stated matter-of-factly, “That is actually why I called. My family wanted to know if we should all go together.”_

_I glanced back at my mother who was now changed and grabbing her purse, as well as finding where she kept the camera, causing me to grin._

_“That sounds perfect. We’re ready over here… now.” I added sheepishly._

_He chuckled on the other end of the line. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from Taichi Kamiya. See you in the parking lot. Let’s meet down there, it will be quicker.”_

_“Did you just call me Taichi?”_

_“I… uh, n-no, you must be hearing things. Gotta go,” was all I heard before the line went dead._

_I turned on my heel, eager to see the redhead. He had to have been blushing from the waver in his voice before he got off the phone._

_Izzy was not one to get easily flustered, so that just made my day._

_“Mom, Dad! We’re going to join the Izumi family. Let’s go!”_

_I ushered my family out of my house, and we hit he elevator down to the main parking lot of our apartment complex._

_The dress code for graduation underneath our cap and gown was much like our school uniform for the guys. Slacks and dress shirts with a tie, and the girls could wear semi-formal skirts and blouse or a dress under their gowns._

_For the past several years, I got several dress code citations for rolling up my sleeves or untucking my shirt or wearing tennis shoes that were not permitted. I tried to be me, while still following the uniform. Eventually they cut the no tennis shoe rule, but I had many a detention for my disheveled look in the past._

_Tonight, I wasn’t much different._

_I rolled up the long sleeves of my dress shirt up over my forearms and untucked the shirt from my pants, leaving the gown unzipped until we got there. I had my signature tennis shoes on instead of dress shoes and had my sweatband in my pocket._

_I hadn’t changed a ton. Besides being a lot taller than I had been at summer camp seven years ago, and my hair was a bit shorter, but it still spiked in a messy mass a top my head._

_The others hadn’t changed a ton either. Matt was still just as cool, now an up-and-coming rock star in a band he started thanks to his obsession with music. Sora was the star sports player for girls at our school. Joe was in medical school in college now, and Mimi while still incredibly fashion forward (and with bright pink hair, might I add) was focusing on cooking._

_Izzy was still the smallest of our group, well in our age group. He was taller than T.K. and Kari. But he definitely lost his boyish features. While still obsessed with computers, Izzy had a shorter haircut that made him look very handsome. His dark eyes could still steal my soul…_

_We had all matured a lot since we first met, and tonight was a huge step for us._

_While we stepped off the elevator, my mother was fussing about my look. Trying to tuck in my shirt and fix my crooked tie._

_I swatted her hand away gently. “Stop, stop! This is my aesthetic. Let me be, woman.”_

_I heard Izzy’s mother laugh as they came over to join us and smiled, looking over Izzy’s pristine, nicely pressed outfit. He was sporting a short sleeve dress shirt… I need to invest in some of those, and gray pin stripped trousers. And today he was also wearing a bowtie instead of a traditional tie. It suited my little nerd._

_Whoa... I shook my head of the thoughts. Izzy and I were just friends. I don’t want to jeopardize anything._

_“You look like a hot mess!” my mother fussed, but smiled genuinely at the Izumi family, focusing on Izzy. “I mean, look at Izzy—he is so polished! You could at least straighten your tie for goodness sake.”_

_A light blush crept up onto both Izzy and my cheeks, for different reasons, and you could see his a little better because of his fair skin._

_“Thank you for the compliment, Mrs. Kamiya, but Tai looks great. It’s very… him.” Izzy responded, not looking me in the eye and his speech sped up, “I think we need to leave though, or we will be late, and you will have a hard time finding a spot to sit in the bleachers!”_

_The mothers immediately sprang into action, making the decision to take separate cars, but not in a way that either Izzy or I had expected._

_It was Izzy’s mother that spoke up first._

_“You’re right, Izzy. You and Tai need to go. Why don’t you take Dad’s car to get you both there and signed in?” His mom suggested sweetly._

_“The rest of us will follow behind and we will find a spot. I think that we are meeting up with the other parents of your friends.” Came my mom’s cheerful response._

_Kari piped in, “T.K. and Matt’s mom should be holding seats for everyone. We all wanted to sit together so we worked it out while you were at the practice today.”_

_Izzy blinked, “You’re letting me take Dad’s car?”_

_His father handed over the keys._

_I was surprised by our family’s actions, but they were all being extremely sweet. I decided to intervene before Izzy declined the offer, which he could do sometimes, due to the shock of it all._

_“Thank you very much! We will see you there!” I linked my arm in Izzy’s and pushed him towards his dad’s car before he could protest._

_“Uh, yes, thank you! Bye!” He glanced at me as he unlocked the doors. “Do you think they know anything?”_

_He suddenly asked me as we sat in the car and he pulled out of the parking spot. I waved to them as we hit the main road._

_“Do I think they know… what about you? I have no idea… Do your parents know that you’re gay?” I asked, looked out the window. It was weird being in the passenger seat. Whenever we hung out in the past, if we drove anywhere it was usually me driving and not him, but this was a nice change of pace._

_The grip he had on the wheel loosened slightly. “Yes, they know. I meant your parents… the others, like our friends maybe.”_

_“My parents don’t know about you. They know that I like guys, but they have never once said anything about it. Kari knows… she’s just sort of intuitive.” I looked over at his profile to gauge his reaction._

_There was a soft line of a smile on his lips as he drove._

_“I told Kari, well, to be accurate, Kari asked, and I confirmed her inquiry.”_

_I chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, essentially that’s what happened when she asked me the same thing. You’re not mad?”_

_“Mad that Kari knows? No, I am not worried about her. She shouldn’t tell anyone. She swore to secrecy. I just… I’m just nervous about losing friends.”_

_His voice became distant._

_“You know you’re not alone, Iz… I get worried about that too. None of them know about me either,” I said, hoping to comfort him, “Don’t get me wrong, I think our friends would be pretty accepting. But better be safe than sorry.”_

_My crest was courage, so one day I wanted to find that courage again to come out to the world and not just the little duo him and I had created._

_“I think they would be accepting, too… It just scares me. I have never had such great friends in my life and losing everyone would be the worst possible outcome.”_

_I smiled to myself and subconsciously reached over and took his hand._

_“One day at a time. They care about Izzy, the man, not his sexuality.”_

_Izzy hit the break at a red light, harder than I am sure he intended to, and glanced down at our hands. His cheeks became aflame, almost the hue of his hair._

_“Tai…” he began, swallowing back something else, looking incredibly nervous. “You’re right… as usual.”_

_Before the thought processed my brain, I leaned over the center console and pressed my lips to the smaller boys’ lips._

_A honk from behind brought us both back to reality and Izzy hit the gas; we sat in silence until he pulled into the parking lot at the school that was buzzing with people, both our classmates and families coming to see the graduates alike._

_I don’t know what possessed me to kiss him… Oh wait, yes, I do. I figured out long ago that I fell in love with Izzy. I just wanted him to know about it before graduation. Who knows where life was going to take us once we left high school? If I never see him again, I want him to know that I love him._

_It was a silly notion, maybe, but genuinely plagued me._

_I glanced at the clock on the dash, waiting for him to say something. We had ten minutes before, as a student graduating, we needed to be checked in and amongst our peers ready to graduate._

_He hadn’t made a peep and from the side I couldn’t tell what his expression was saying._

_His head was resting on the steering wheel buried in his arms, and suddenly I felt like maybe I did something wrong. Maybe Izzy didn’t feel the same… My gut suddenly lurched unpleasantly at the thought. I had tried to prepare myself for this scenario… but it was a lot harder in person._

_“I-Izzy?” I cleared my throat softly, my body a bundle of nerves. My voice had cracked, strained just from holding the tension in from our silence._

_His back tensed a little at my breaking that silence, but he did not look up at me right away._

_“Y…you kissed me…” It was barely a whisper bypassing his lips._

_I turned in my seat, palms flat on the seat beneath me, between my crossed legs. I leaned forward ever so slightly. “I… yeah, I-I did. I-I’m sorry… I, it just… I like you!” I blurted out._

_My heart was pounding in my chest sporadically. It felt like it was going to jump right out and run away._

_My exclamation caused Izzy’s head to turn and him to sit up straighter with wide black eyes; suddenly, heat rushed to my face realizing what I had just confessed._

_“You… you what?”_

_I took a deep breath. It was now or never._

_“Actually… that’s not accurate, and I know you’re all about accurate,” I looked him in the eyes, leaning into him again. This time he didn’t move at all, just watched me with those dark, curious orbs. “I love you.”_

_His breath hitched in his throat and he threw himself into my embrace, causing me to fall back against the car door with him on top of me._

_“I love you, too, more than you’ll ever know, Tai!”_

_His voice was so soft and sincere, but it was clearer than crystals and to this day rings in my ears. The proclamation that started it all._

_~~End Flashback~~_

* * *

Now here we were, three years after graduation; I was turning 22 next week and Izzy had just turned 20 recently… dating in secret. From our friends that is, and generally most of the world. Our families figured us out within a week of us dating and they were very accepting of everything.

Kari and T.K. knew, only because he swore to secrecy as well, and they treat us like they normally would. It was just the rest of the crew that was in the dark. They might have their suspicions, but no one has ever said anything to us about it. Dating was not a topic that we ever breached, regarding either me or Izzy, when we hung out with the group. And until now it had worked out nicely.

I knew it had to be wearing on Izzy, as much as it wore on me. I wanted to tell everybody from the beginning. I like to shout good news from the rooftops. Everyone that knows me knows how loud and outgoing I am. I wanted Izzy to be ready to do that too, though. So, both of us have kept our mouth shut.

We became “roommates” a few months after we graduated and got this apartment together, and as far as our friends know he has his space and I have mine. Nobody thought the wiser.

I carefully pulled Izzy from his chair down onto my lap. His question was repeating itself in my ears over and over. Were we ever going to tell our friends?

It was not something we talked about often. Looks like now was the time.

“Are you ready to tell them?” I asked, leaning my forehead against his gently.

He was quiet, I am sure there were countless thoughts rolling around that glorious brain of his causing him more worry and stress than he needed. I cupped his face in my hands and his onyx eyes looked deeply into my brown ones.

But that caused him to finally speak.

“I am ready. Sorry it took me so long… I just, I don’t know. Courage is not my thing. I overthink,” he said sheepishly, resting his head in the crevice of my shoulder and neck.

I rubbed his back gently.

“I never wanted you to rush the decision, handsome. As ready as I thought I may have been in the past, I am glad that we waited. We have known our friends a long time… they are like family. So, I am hoping that they are going to be as supportive and accepting as our actual families have been.”

Izzy nodded, letting out a small yawn. Looks like my computer geek is finally tired.

“I know. But I do think we should tell them soon. For all we know, they might not even be surprised.” He responded, saying exactly what I was thinking as he stood up and pulled me to my feet before saving his work. “Let’s go to bed.”

I wrapped my arms around him, and we headed to our bedroom. So, we were making the decision to come out to everyone we knew soon. It was exciting and scary at the same time. I knew Izzy would be full of nerves until it was over with so we would have to just get it over with sooner than later.

“Oh, hey, Matt wanted to know if you would consider being our tech guy for the concert this weekend.” I mentioned as I stripped down to my boxers to climb into bed. I almost forgot that he asked me to check.

Izzy walked out of our bathroom in his boxers and pajama pants that he generally liked wearing to bed. He was an icicle; I was a furnace.

“Is he willing to pay me this time? Not that I don’t mind being the tech guy for free, but it would be nice if there was some sort of payment with it,” he smiled as he climbed into bed, adding before I even got the chance to retort, “and more than just sleeping with the drummer. That’s a bonus in and of itself.”

I just chuckled. “Yes, he is going to pay you what they pay the usual tech guy,” I replied, pulling him closer to me as we settled into bed together. “That makes you a groupie of sorts, babe.”

He just shook his head while laughing.

“Me? Oh, no, no I don’t think so… I’m no groupie. I’m dating the drummer, that is a far more important title than groupie.”

“True, boyfriend does have a better ring to it,” I replied thoughtfully, thinking to myself that the title of husband sounded even more appealing one day. We had talked about marriage and kids but all of it couldn’t easily happen until we came out. Us telling our friends was going to be very important for our life to move forward.

Izzy snuggled up to my side, his head tucked against my chest.

“So does husband,” he murmured quietly, starting to doze off. “Goodnight, handsome…zzz”

I smiled to myself as I held my lover close, letting sleep take me into dreamland. “Goodnight, babe… I love you.”

~~~

A few days later, the weekend of the concert arrived; I had headed straight to get a last-minute band practice in with Matt, but instead he asked me to go to the jeweler to check on the ring he purchased for Sora.

“I am sure it’s perfect for her, Matt. It’s not like you don’t know her and what she likes, right?” I asked, getting out of the car as I followed him into the jewelry store. It was a much fancier place than I had expected.

Then again, Matt did like extravagant.

“That’s beside the point. I just wanted to show you, and I needed to pick it up anyway. I had it sized.” He replied, shaking his head at me as he got out of his car, locking it as we walked into the store.

I chuckled and gave him a sheepish look.

Matt and I still butted heads on a lot of topics; we both have stupid, strong personalities, but he is my best friend, aside from Izzy. Joe was always closer to Izzy. They spoke the same intelligent person talk that often went over my head, but I was still close to Joe, too. He was a good, reliable friend, of course.

“Just making sure. This is a big commitment.” I responded as we walked over to the counter and Matt told them that he was there to pick up an order for Ishida. “Sora Ishida…. Yup, it flows.”

I murmured it to myself mostly but wanted to see how Matt reacted.

Which was as I expected.

Matt’s cheeks flushed pink for a moment, and he sent me an icy stare as the jeweler brought out the ring for him, which he took gratefully, and I watched him pay before he walked over opening the box.

It was a simple design, a platinum gold ring with a square cut diamond and some accent icy pink diamonds on the side, with a heart etched into the design, and the words ‘friendship without love is lost’ inscribed into the inside.

It made me smile. He was a sweet boyfriend to her, and they made a great couple. I liked that he incorporated their crests into the ring.

“Well, what do you think?” Matt asked impatiently, after my long silence.

“It’s perfect. I like the inscription. Sora will love it.”

He let out a relieved sigh and smiled.

“I was hoping she would. Thanks. Hey, so are you dating anyone?” He asked as we left the jewelry store.

I blinked, making sure that I heard him correctly. None of them had asked me or Izzy about the dating category for a long time so I just assumed that they figured that we were just single people.

“I am, actually, dating someone.” I replied carefully, not wanting to tell just Matt; I wanted to tell the group of our friends along with Izzy in case he got nervous. “But that’s a surprise. I was going to introduce you and the others to them tonight after all the hullabaloo with you and Sora. I don’t want to steal your thunder or anything.”

“I thought you might be dating someone. You always disappear after practice pretty quick.” Matt said with a knowing grin. “I look forward to meeting them. Don’t worry about stealing my thunder. I am going to propose to Sora before the concert at dinner with my family and her and her mom. I decided to make that portion an intimate gathering. She doesn’t like flashy stuff, and I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”

I laughed, nodding.

“Good decision. I wouldn’t want Sora to accidentally tell you no publically.”

Matt shook his head but laughed too. “Yeah, I had a dream just like that. It’s what made me change my mind.”

We headed back to band practice in high spirits, seeing familiar faces waiting for us. It had been a while since the entire group had gotten together. The rest of the band wasn’t there yet, or at least I did not see them upon arrival, so we just decided to hang out with our friends until Matt’s dinner plans. From there I expected we would probably all split up for a few and regroup for the concert.

I hopped out of the car, noticing Izzy’s car parked in the lot, but I did not see him, Yolei or Joe outside chatting with the rest of the gang.

“Hey, guys,” I greeted everyone as Matt and I joined the group.

Kari smiled and walked over to hug me. “Hey, Tai. We thought it would be nice to hang out before the concert today. Your bandmates were nice enough to say that they didn’t mind coming back later.”

Matt chuckled.

“So, in other words, you kicked my bandmates to the curb, and we will be doing a short band practice right before the concert,” he smiled lovingly as Sora walked over to greet him and kissed him gently.

“That’s basically how it went down. Where did you two run off to?” Sora asked sweetly.

“Oh, I just picked Tai up; he was running late as usual,” Matt said, sending me a look as Sora turned her head to look at me, to play along.

I was always the fall guy with him. But what can I say? It was not entirely wrong, just wrong for today. I shrugged and gave a sheepish grin.

“I couldn’t find my wallet, sorry we’re late.” I replied and Sora laughed.

“Always losing something,” she smiled as Mimi walked over to join us.

“Who’s always losing something?”

“Me, of course,” I answered Mimi, smiling, “Are Izzy and the others inside?”

Davis, T.K. and Cody joined us hearing the conversation, happy to be hanging out again.

T.K. was the one who answered me, even though Davis had started to reply, but gave an annoyed glare at T.K. instead and shut his mouth. Ken laughed as he walked out of the recording studio. We usually practiced at the studio that Matt rented space out in for us to be able to jam whenever we wanted.

“Yes, Izzy wanted to set up for the show tonight and Yolei, Joe, and Ken went inside to make sure that they had everything.” T.K. said cheerfully. He may have been the baby of the group before, but he had surely matured. And with dating my sister, I had learned a lot more about him over the years and he was basically just a little brother to me.

“Tai, Izzy wanted your help with something inside since you’re here now,” Ken added, as he walked over to us.

I nodded and carefully excused myself, heading inside. I found Izzy in the recording room and my drum set up in the booth across from it. I entered the room with him.

Joe and Yolei were nowhere to be seen.

“Hi, handsome,” I started, with a smile.

My boyfriend was furiously typing on his laptop to his side and looked up as I opened the door, greeting me with his beautiful dark orbs and a welcoming smile.

“Well, hello to you too,” he stated, moving some of the knobs and pushing some buttons on the switch board in front of him. “Would you care to help me test the sound?”

“Sure, you want me to play the drums for you?”

“Always,” Izzy replied in a sweet way, but he gave me a serious expression also, his plush, dark eyebrows furrowed as he spoke, “I was having trouble hearing your bassist, and I am trying to figure out if it is the cord to his guitar or if it is the mics. Or something else entirely.”

I bent over and kissed his cheek, “Not to worry; I will help however I can.”

With that I walked into the booth and got situated with my drums—sticks in hand—and shot Izzy a thumbs up, noticing that once again today he was wearing one of my hoodies, which were just a size or two bigger than his, but it was adorable, nonetheless.

“Ready whenever you need me to go,” I said into the microphone that connected to the room where Izzy was siting.

He clicked the button to allow him to speak to me.

“Count out and then start. Pick any song.”

“Cool,” I took a stick in each hand and counted out loud, “1…2…3…4…”

As I started to play the beat to one of Izzy’s favorite songs, I noticed that the rest of the gang including Joe and Yolei filing in to join my boyfriend in the small room, watching me.

Even though I couldn’t see all of them, I knew the room was slightly crowded now, but my boyfriend was probably none the wiser. He was deep in thought when he worked, calculating and assessing the tech as I played.

It was weird being the only one on this side of the glass. Usually it was Matt, me, and the entire rest of the band. A moment later Matt did join me, though, and picked up singing the song that I had decided to play. I could barely tell from the tint in the glass, but I would bet you anything that my boyfriend was blushing even slightly.

We jammed for a few minutes and stopped after a third song, as Izzy raised his hand despite us not being able to see him through the tinted glass and spoke to us from his end of the receiver.

“Perfect. I think I figured out the problem and it will not be a problem at the concert tonight. You can stop now if you want.”

I looked at Matt who nodded and I stood up, twirling the drumsticks, placing them in my back pocket as we left the booth.

I opened the door to the recording room and the others were chatting amiably, but most stopped to acknowledge us.

“You sounded really good, I love that song,” Mimi said, sitting on the desk beside Izzy. “But honestly this kid is magic.”

I smirked internally to her statement. I knew what she meant. He is a genius, and he figured out a problem that a lot of others would have taken much longer to figure out or understand. But he really was magic, in so many ways.

“It’s a crowd favorite,” I replied, looking at my boyfriend. He glanced at me and just smiled before shooing Mimi away from his computer.

“Hey, don’t touch! You’ll get the oils from your lotion all over the screen, again.” He muttered and she just laughed.

“Oops.” She smiled over at Joe who went to stand beside her.

Joe and Mimi had been together for two years and they were happily working and in school. Their relationship had come as a bit of a surprise to some of us, but they were a power couple. He kept her grounded and she helped him loosen up and relax.

We waited for Izzy to finish up some last-minute tech work, most of us just catching up and everyone trying to decide what to do before the concert.

I leaned against the wall, half paying attention to the conversations going on around me, but mostly focused on watching Izzy at work. He was a powerhouse when he worked on his computer.

This was his fourth computer and his favorite so far. His original laptop from our days at summer camp went kaput a few summers later. He had to save up and buy himself a brand new one for junior high after that. I accidentally spilled coffee on that one when we moved in together, so I bought him a different one later that day. And the newer one I accidentally dropped into the sink in the kitchen. So needless to say… me and computers aren’t friends and he tries to keep me away from them at all costs.

It wasn’t until I heard Sora speaking to Izzy that my attention was focused again to the present.

She was standing over by him, holding onto the sleeve of the hoodie he was wearing. It had been one of my favorites back in high school, and even had my last name and number from my soccer team on the back so it was hard not to guess who it belonged to.

Izzy was looking up at her, with a sheepish smile, completely forgetting that he was wearing it I’m sure.

“Isn’t this Tai’s?” Sora asked, genuinely curious.

They knew we were roommates, and I know lots of girls who share each other’s things, and couples who do that sort of thing, which left us in that category of questioning.

“Uh, yeah…” Izzy replied, pulling his arm back out of her grasp on the sleeve. He glanced at me.

I pushed myself to the standing position at my full height, figuring we may as well spill the beans now instead of waiting any longer.

There were a lot of curious eyes staring at me now, sometimes gazing back in Izzy’s direction.

“Izzy and I have been dating for three and a half years. As of graduation night. Now you’re up to date. You’re welcome,” Kari giggled at my bluntness, and Izzy’s eyes narrowed slightly at the way I shared the information. It was very much my delivery style.

There was a silence for a moment or two before an eruption of conversations started and our friends rallied around us.

Matt was the first to clearly be heard. “You two are incredibly obvious, you do know that, right?”

Izzy raised a brow, uncertain about what he meant by that, but I smiled to myself.

“You knew?” I asked, walking over to Izzy and rubbing his shoulders, as he leaned back into the chair and into my reach.

Matt smiled and nodded his head.

Sora and Mimi did the same.

“We knew, we’ve all known I think… you two were pretty close during graduation.” Sora said sweetly, happy for us and the confirmation we finally gave them.

“Wait, if you knew, why did no one say anything?” Izzy inquired, shaking his head almost in disbelief.

“You’re our friends. Why would we say anything bad about it? You love who you love, it hasn’t changed who either of you are,” Joe joined the conversation. Good ole reliable Joe.

“Besides, neither of you had said anything; so we didn’t just want to assume, and one: embarrass you, or two: make you feel uncomfortable with yourselves. We figured that you would tell us when you were ready and then you could just be yourselves, the way you guys act when it’s just you two alone, except now when you’re with us, too.” Matt stated, one hand in his pocket and one around his girlfriend.

Kari smiled at both of us, “We’ve all talked about it, when you two run off and disappear. I am sorry… I know we were sworn to secrecy. But our friends wanted to make sure you two were happy.”

Izzy smiled and shook his head, “Don’t apologize. I am grateful for the support. I… before we all met, at summer camp, I did not have any other friends. The ones I had had, though it had been few, rejected me when I told them that I was gay… and I mean we were all around ten at the time. It’s not like anything happened, but their families were against that sort of thing and they didn’t want to be a part of anything of the sort. So… I was afraid to lose you all. You’ve become more than just my friends, you’re my family.”

Mimi piped in, “Izzy, you get in your head too much sometimes, sweetie. You have always been our friend, and I think I can speak for the rest of us when I say that you are a part of our families too. I am happy that you and Tai have each other. You make him smarter, and he makes you stronger.”

Her words were sincere, and she said it with a wink… that very Mimi wink.

I just chuckled at the almost insult and kissed the top of my boyfriend’s head, for the first time in the presence of our friends… and family, we were accepted. We were us. There was nothing in this world that could stop us now.

“He gets cold sometimes, let him be,” I smiled, noticing Sora eyeing the jacket. “If you’re cold steal your boyfriend’s jacket.” I stuck my tongue out jokingly.

“Tai!” Izzy shouted, but burst out laughing despite himself. “He’s not wrong…”

We all laughed together. It felt amazing being honest and open with our friends. It felt even better that they were as supportive and accepting as our families had been. It was perfect.

“So, I don’t know about everyone else, I think we should go get lunch to celebrate!” Davis jumped in as the laughter died down.

And none of us complained. Food sounded wonderful. We all agreed and as the group slowly filed out of the cramped recording room, I pulled Izzy up from his chair and kissed him lovingly.

“See, I knew we had good friends,” I murmured, and he nuzzled his cheek against my chest, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“I shouldn’t have doubted you when you said that before,” he looked up into my eyes, his filled with tears of relief.

I gently reached up and wiped them carefully, catching the tears before they fell down his cheeks.

“Remember, I’m a leader, courage is my thing. Knowledge is yours. You trusted your gut and that is okay. We did this together. And we will keep doing things together. No harm, no foul. I have your back, Izzy.”

“I love that about you. You always have,” he smiled gently, and kissed me gently, “I’ve got everything else.”

I chuckled.

“That you do. Let us pack up your gear and get lunch with our family.”

“I like the sound of that.”


	2. It takes Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I guess it was only a matter of time before they would have figured out about us. Three years… three and a half years we could have been acting perfectly normal, perfectly us—as a couple—the whole time. Damn.
> 
> “You’ve got that goofy grin on your face, what’s up?”  
> “You always say my face is goofy,” I muttered, but smiling regardless.  
> “I like your goofy face, the whole thing. Seriously, though, what’s on your mind?” He asked, kissing my cheek.   
> I could get used to this....

I walked over and started helping Izzy pack up his computer and the rest of the gear he dragged along to check on the tech for the concert tonight, holding his hand as we left the recording room to follow our friends outside.

This felt so natural now, like we had been out the whole time. I can’t believe everybody already knew… well, actually, yeah I could. As a group we were all pretty in tune with one another. Everyone knew that Matt and Sora were a thing before they confessed to it, and same with Mimi and Joe. T.K. and Kari had been an item since grade school and they were definitely still going strong.

So I guess it was only a matter of time before they would have figured out about us. Three years… three and a half years we could have been acting perfectly normal, perfectly us—as a couple—the whole time. Damn.

I felt a nudge at my side and gazed over at my boyfriend who was smirking at me amused, a typical expression that I often caught on his features when he was looking at me.

“What?”

“You’ve got that goofy grin on your face, what’s up?”

“You always say my face is goofy,” I muttered, but smiling regardless.

“I like your goofy face, the whole thing. Seriously, though, what’s on your mind?” He asked, kissing my cheek.

I could get used to this.

“Just thinking about everything. Surprised, yet not surprised that our friends knew about us. And thinking how nice this is,” I motioned to him and I in this moment.

A bright smile spread across his beautiful face and he nodded.

“It is nice, relieving… I guess I thought we were being inconspicuous, but luckily it didn’t matter. I’m glad that they knew and that they love us for who we are and being together doesn’t affect anything. Life won’t change, at least not in a bad way.”

“Only in the very best ways,” I reached over and pulled him to my side, as we arrived to our group of friends. “We are some lucky guys, handsome.”

Izzy nodded, looking over at the group. “So, where to?”

Mimi grinned, leaning back against Joe, “As long as there is something healthy on the menu I don’t care where we go eat.”

“You know my allergies,” Joe replied, pushing up his glasses with his finger. There was always an allergy worth mentioning in his mind, and he was now in medical school and I swear the list got longer every time we hung out with him.

Matt shifted from one foot to the other, looking around thoughtfully. “Well, sounds like trying something new is off the table. We can always head to our usual spot. That might be our best bet.”

“Or we could let Tai and Izzy choose, since aren’t they the reason we are celebrating with lunch?” Sora added to her boyfriend’s statement.

Izzy’s brow raised slightly at her response, “Tai would choose pizza, dumplings, or something very spicy. The whole group may not be too fond of that.” He said, looking sweetly at me but speaking to everyone.

Kari giggled. He knew me so well.

“How about that new restaurant that opened in town? I heard that it has a great variety of cuisine, healthy options and is allergy friendly. Something for everyone?” came my response causing several pairs of eyes turning my way.

Yes, I was being thoughtful. Look at me.

There was a chorus of agreements, as the group decided that was the best option for us all. We piled into a few cars and headed that way.

Half an hour later we had a large booth, with a large table pushed together to connect us all and were happily strewn around the section we encompassed amiably chatting away. It had been a long time since the entire group had gotten together for such an occasion, and it was time we caught up on many things.

And everyone wanted to hear about Izzy’s and my relationship, how our families felt about everything, etcetera.

After ordering came the rapid-fire questioning, and it didn’t start off from the people I expected it from either. It all began with Yolei, who hadn’t even known us from the beginning, but was genuinely curious. She was someone who looked up to Izzy as a role model and I could tell that this was something she felt like she should have known about him.

“So, how did you two start dating?” she asked, elbows on the table, leaning forward curiously.

Izzy looked at me, as if to ask if I wanted to tell the story or if he should. In all honesty I didn’t mind either way. We had shared our story a multitude of times among family members, but not to anyone in the friend category. Except for some computer friends of Izzy’s that him and I had hung out with, that also had been to the Digital World in the past. But that’s a story for a later date.

I shrugged my shoulders, answering his silent inquiry.

“Either way, would you like to tell it this time? Or shall I?” I asked instead to have him make the decision.

He took a moment to think and then a smile stretched across his face, nodding.

“Actually, yes, this time I think that I want to tell it. I make you relay the story a lot of the time, and you’re very good at story-telling. But I think it’s only fair that I tell it today.”

Izzy leaned back against me, while our friends all shifted in their seats to get comfortable and situated to listen to his story. I wrapped my arms around him as I listened, focusing on the beautiful memories of how we became a couple.

* * *

_~~Flashback~~_

_(Izzy POV)_

_I got out of the car with weak knees, unsure of the feelings coursing through my body. The obnoxious brunette that I had become so fond of the past several years had just kissed me in the car on the way to our graduation ceremony and confessed his love to me._

_I cannot express the intensity of my happiness the moment that he had done so in an accurate manner. Tai was the first guy that I had really grown to love, not just a fleeting crush. I didn’t just think he was handsome. I knew for a fact that he was brave, bold, and brilliant… in his own way. Maybe not as book-smart as myself, but a genius in his own right._

_He had an impeccable moral center that made him a great leader and he always went with his gut instinct, and while that sometimes got our group into hot water in the beginning, he always found a way to ensure all of our safety and wellbeing._

_And he was strong. Not just physically, but emotionally. Hot-headed, might I add, but his range of emotions was much healthier than my own._

_All of that being said, I admired this boy with all of my heart and since I met Tai, have come to desire his affection very much._

_I never expected that he would feel the same way about me that I did about him._

_I never expected him to kiss me, to hold my hand… to love me, like I love him. I had come out to my parents about a year after everything happened at summer camp and our destiny as the chosen children, the Digidestined._

_My mother had been anticipating this, for whatever reason. She was a very intuitive and sensitive woman, and I appreciated her kind heart. So it seemed that even before I told her that I liked guys, and felt that I had always identified as a gay person, that she was already aware of who I was and it didn’t change her love for me because I was still her “darling Izzy”._

_My father had not been anticipating this declaration the same way; however, he was just as supportive and sensitive as she had been about the matter._

_Nothing had really changed when I talked to my parents after that, except for their interest in who I liked and the questions they asked. They were also much more sensitive about other people’s reactions to the “gay agenda” and people who identified as something other than heterosexual._

_However, despite all of their support and eagerness to learn about something that was different than their own sexuality, their openness did not change the generic view of my life as a young man identifying as gay._

_School was very hard for me, and not in the intellectual aspect, but the social aspect, even though I was closeted up until recently._

_Scholastically, I excelled in school and had been in the very top of my class even when I was quite young. I had been considered a genius, a prodigy from an early age. Which, granted is an enormous expectation for a child, made me very aware of how adults viewed me, and that was for my brain. To adults, the smarter I was the more attention I gained._

_So, focusing so much on that portion of my life, made me very socially inept. Until I met my friends, these friends, at summer camp, I had had a hard time meeting people and becoming friends with anyone. Especially with guys or girls my age._

_Being an only child had not helped me understand much of anything that was “typical” in regards to siblings, male or female alike. I thought all girls were girly and annoying and I thought most guys just liked sports. While those are stereotypes, I certainly did believe them for the longest time._

_I was often around more adults than kids my own age growing up, so my interaction with kids was definitely not up to par._

_I generally became frustrated trying to interact with them and they got frustrated with me because I spoke on a higher intellectual level than most. Granted that still happens every once and a while, but I never understood that I could speak on a level that everyone understood and did not have to use big words or make myself sound educated simply because I was educated._

_Meeting my friends, they gave me a better understanding of how relationships were supposed to work. Friends fight, sometimes they disagree, sometimes they agree and everything is understood splendidly, and it was okay for either reaction._

_But from the very beginning, I was always drawn to Tai. Something about him spoke to my soul and told me that he was the one._

_Even though him and I fought like cats and dogs at the time. He was the person I trusted the most, he was the one that I felt the most secure around. There was just something inviting about Tai that made me want to be around him._

_I wanted to be like him, in how personable that he could be. I liked how outgoing he was, and his confidence level has never been short. He was popular, he was funny. I mean to say that he still is all of these things, but when we were young these were all traits that I truly admired and aspired towards._

_I was lucky enough to confide in him in regards to my sexuality from a young age, which brought him and I closer._

_Up until the day of graduation, Tai and I had become the best of friends. Even with as close to the group that we were, he and I hung out separately on a regular basis. I stayed over at his house, he stayed over at mine and our parents got to know the other well._

_Things just seemed to fall into place, and I slowly fell in love with Tai. I don’t think love is something that any of us actually mean to fall into, but rather that it is something in our lives that is a lesson and whichever way we accept this lesson is in regards to the outcome._

_And life taught me that Tai was someone that I needed to keep in my life, no matter where the twists and turns of life shifted me._

_I hadn’t realized how deeply I had fallen in love until Tai professed his love to me in the car that night. It took my breath away._

_I stared at the brunette sitting in the passenger seat of my father’s car as we sat, parked, waiting to go to the graduation ceremony. Had Tai really just told me that he loved me? I was still trying to process the statement. I wanted to pinch myself, but that seemed like it would be a little extreme._

_I had not expected anything when I asked to join Tai in going to the ceremony. I was trying not to get my hopes up the more him and I spent time together. And this just threw everything out that I was working towards._

_I glanced back at him. We had both gotten quiet after the confession on both of our parts, and had yet to speak to each other again._

_I cleared my throat. I didn’t want us to head out to the ceremony in some awkward situation. We needed to figure out where we were going from “I love you” to whatever was next._

_Tai’s big, mahogany eyes turned their gaze my way when I cleared my throat and he sat up a little straighter, fidgeting._

_“So... I think that we should make a decision, before we step out of this car,” I started not really knowing where I was trying to lead our conversation. I had never been in a romantic relationship before so I had no idea where to start with asking someone out. I don’t think Tai has any experience in that arena either, but he had always been bolder than me._

_“Like to date?” he asked, sending a flurry of butterflies soaring through my stomach._

_I nodded mutely, suddenly forgetting how to speak._

_A smile spread across his handsome face and he gingerly reached over for my hand once again._

_“If that was a yes, I think I would like to hear it out loud. Would you be my boyfriend, Koushiro?”_

_My eyes widened some hearing him call me by my first name, but I squeezed his hand gently and took a breath in through my nose._

_“I would very much like that, Tai,” I replied, remembering that I had called him Taichi earlier today._

_He leaned forward and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips, and glanced at the time. He looked back up at me from just a few inches in front of my face, causing heat to rise to my cheeks._

_“We better go get checked in so we can graduate with the rest of our friends…” He mumbled, staring from my lips to my eyes and back._

_I followed his gaze to the clock, realizing that we only had approximately three and a half minutes to sprint to the gymnasium where they were corralling all the students before leading us out to the stadium for the ceremony. It was across the school._

_I gave him a sheepish smile._

_“Unfortunately, yes… Rain check?” I asked, causing his smile to turn a little lopsided and making my stomach flip flop. I really wish we didn’t have to go, but this was also a necessary step in our lives. I wouldn’t want us to miss the opportunity to walk with our friends._

_Tai nodded, and pushed the passenger car door open wide, sliding out of the car._

_“You’ve got yourself a deal. Now… we may have to run.”_

_“I think I can keep up with you,” came my response, as I got out of the driver’s side and locked my father’s car before sliding the keys in my pocket._

_He chuckled and looked at me before dashing towards the gym. I ran after him as fast as I could and we made it in record time, stopping to catch our breath in the gymnasium doors where the teachers were signing students in with just a minute to go before they locked them._

_The others noticed us and decided to come say hi._

_“I thought you weren’t going to make it, Tai,” Matt sneered, poking fun at his usual tardiness. One of our English teachers gave a hum of agreement from somewhere behind us at his statement._

_Tai just shrugged, his usual grin plastered on his face. He could take the jokes, most of the time. When they were at his expense, they tended to roll off his back, but if it was a joke targeted at someone he cared about, that tended to bother him more._

_“Me too, but luckily Izzy made sure to get us here on time. So, really I owe it all to him.”_

_I blinked at his statement, but knew he was being both honest and trying to tell them without telling them about what happened._

_“We’ve known each other long enough to know how we operate, guys,” I agreed, piping in as Matt and the others nodded. “I just figured that maybe Tai lost something important and needed help getting here on time. We made it.”_

_Mimi smiled brightly, looking around. “That’s what is important. We’re here and graduating together! Joe even made it to watch us walk.”_

_Sora shot Mimi a look I couldn’t quite understand, but I assume it was some sort of silent conversation regarding what she said. I just couldn’t decide what part._

_“Good ole Joe. I am glad he made our graduation. Hey, did all our families make it tonight too?” Matt asked, looking around at the group._

_From in here none of us knew where our families were sitting, just that they were in the stadium seating._

_Tai folded his arms casually and rested them behind his head, nodding._

_“From what I understand, Kari told Izzy and me that our families are all sitting together and I have a feeling that they are going to make this a much bigger deal than it needs to be.”_

_I could only laugh, and the group started laughing too. Our parents were going to embarrass the hell out of us and we knew it was coming._

_“T.K. mentioned something about that… I didn’t realize that is what he meant.” Matt said, sighing slightly. “I feel like they’re all going to go crazy every time one of our names is called.”_

_“Well, I guess it is better than the kids that might not have a lot of support tonight. Let’s enjoy it while we can. We are lucky kids after all.” Sora responded in a light tone._

_Mimi linked one of her arms in mine and the other in Tai’s and motioned for Sora to do the same with Matt._

_We each gave her a quizzical expression, but leaned in, making a semi-circle._

_“After tonight we will be high school graduates, Joe isn’t here to agree but I am sure that he would,” Mimi started speaking, sounding more serious than her usual carefree spirit. “Promise that we will all stay friends after this? You guys are my best friends and my family. We need to make a pact.”_

_I smiled, feeling very happy that we were all feeling that inside._

_“I promise.” Came a chorus from the rest of us in agreement to her question._

_The graduation ceremony went as well as could be expected. Many people made a lot of long speeches and messed up their delivery, I was one of the people asked to speak since I was the Valedictorian for our class._

_There had been a lot of complaints since I was younger than the rest of the people graduating, and technically had been in a grade behind them when we started school, but school was easy for me and I had the ability to skip levels. The school had given me the opportunity to skip more than one, and if I had accepted I would have graduated in Joe’s class. But I wanted to stay with my friends, namely Tai._

_I gave my speech, trying to make it so the majority of my audience was able to understand it and, boy, had that taken a long time of editing and a lot of help from my mother three nights in a row to narrow it down from five pages to one._

_It wasn’t long before they were calling names and the students of our graduating class were receiving their diplomas._

_As expected, our group of parents and siblings were loud, obnoxious, and very loving when each of our names were called. I was appreciative most when my parents cheered, and I saw Tai cheering from the behind me. They were the ones I cared about being happy for me, and I was so proud of Tai when they called his name. He had really outdone himself this time._

_The ceremony felt like it lasted forever, but finally we made it through until the end when we moved our tassels to the opposite side and were officially graduated students. Among the celebration, as families filed onto the football field from the stadium seating, our group hurried to the side where our families would be coming and ran into Joe first._

_“Congratulations, all of you!” he exclaimed and proudly hugged us all._

_It was an amazing feeling. I stood back for a moment and watched my friends chatting enthusiastically about everything that had happened tonight and what was to come in the near future._

_College, careers, dating, marriage possibly…. Adult life was only a step away now and the future was as bright as ever._

_I felt a soft tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Tai, smiling gently at me. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face upon seeing him._

_“Hey,” how original was I?_

_He chuckled and stuffed his hands in his pockets, after I assume the moment I noticed him reaching to grasp mine._

_“Hey, yourself… handsome. What is going on up there that has you all pondering and thoughtful when we should be out celebrating our victory?” Tai asked, with just a hint of irony. I felt as though he was talking more about our earlier endeavor and less about the graduation celebration._

_I fought back the blush as I registered the word “handsome” being synonymous with me as it flew out of his mouth, as naturally as the breaths he took._

_I had never considered myself particularly handsome, and coming from him it meant a lot to me._

_I glanced over at him, holding his steady gaze. “I always have something going on up there, you know that.” It was the only answer I could muster without blushing madly._

_He chuckled again, and carefully moved closer._

_“I guess I will just have to find out how to turn down the volume then.”_

_Without another word he bent over and briskly kissed my cheek before anyone was paying attention and motioned me to follow him over to our families which were now heading straight for us as they caught our location in the crowd._

_I jogged a bit to catch up with Tai’s pace and we went straight over to our parents and his sister. They greeted us with open arms, congratulatory words, and happy tears. It was a lot to take in for the evening. There was a huge party that our families decided to collaborate on, unbeknownst to all of us._

_The party was about to begin with a fun filled night of new adventures, and most of the night I could only focus on the rain check my boyfriend and I had agreed on in the car and hoping to cash it in._

* * *

Kari was the first to speak after Izzy carefully wrapped up his story before it became too long winded.

“Now that you mention it, before that night, you and Izzy were always close. Like not just that you were always together—whether Izzy was over at our house or you were over at his like you said—but in proximity. You two were always next to each other, beside, behind, around wherever we went or whatever we did when you hung out.” She said in a sisterly tone, full of insight.

I scratched the back of my head, knowing this, but feeling a little sheepish as the others started reflecting on things they were now noticing about us both over the years.

“Wow, that’s right. And you boys were always busy. You made plans just about every weekend didn’t you?” Mimi replied, thinking about all the times they had invited us to do something.

We often gave them some plans that were more of an omission than a blatant lie, but mostly just wanting to let them know that we were busy and would make plans with the group later.

The rest of them did the same. Mimi was often off with Joe, trying desperately to pull him away from his studies and Sora and Matt with one or the other pulling the other one away from either the band or some sporting event.

“I can recall plenty of times that we have each done the same thing, it’s called dating in secret. Basically all of us, besides Yolei and Ken, and T.K. and Kari have done this.” Izzy responded, taking a bite of the bread that the waiter and waitress had brought our table while we told the story and were deciding on our orders.

Sora nodded her agreement.

“Which is interesting, because were we then saying that we trusted the group and our friends, but not to know about the person we were dating?” she asked, quietly. Sora was ever the one with deep emotions that often came out in time like these. Unlike Mimi who let out her emotions all the time.

“No, I think it had more to do with ourselves on a personal level than it did with how we felt the group was going to handle us dating the other person.”

It was Izzy who gave his sincere response to her hypothetical inquiry. He was the perfect one to give us all the knowledge that he had been collecting over the years on this subject matter.

He continued, “Like for myself—for example—I was worried that I was going to be rejected for being gay, and while yes, that would have something to do with me not wanting everyone to know that I was dating Tai, I would say that the thought was unbearable to lose the people that had become my family. If you rejected Tai, I think I would have been more upset than even if you had rejected me, however.”

Matt nodded, rubbing Sora’s back gently.

“Even without the sexuality factor on either our end, or Mimi and Joe’s, I can honestly say that we were all worried that it would break up our family here. This circle. This group. After all we had been through together, I think we all thought that it would be easier to make it seem like nothing changed.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” I added, resting my elbows on the table in front of me, thinking back to the fear I had once seen in my lover’s eyes when we spoke on the subject. “We all should have just been honest with each other from the beginning, but the good thing that we have all learned today, is that we are still a big, close family who cares about each other no matter what.”

Izzy grinned, leaning against me.

“I am sorry everyone for not coming forward earlier.” He bowed his head respectfully, and I took the opportunity to run my fingers through his red hair gently.

T.K. gave his genuinely optimistic smile, full of hope, as usual, before speaking. “Izzy, there is no need to apologize, really. We are just very happy to know that you and Tai are content and happy with where you guys are in your lives. Especially with yourselves. You two have accomplished great things, and that won’t stop the older we get.”

He could be so mature sometimes. I gave Matt a side glance, grinning. Some days I felt like T.K. was the older brother, and Kari was my older sister, with the way that they talked… so much wisdom in their young minds.

Izzy nodded, taking in his statement.

“Prodigious, now that we’ve established this… how about we eat? Not only can I feel Tai’s stomach rumbling, I can hear it.” He raised his hand to get the attention of our waiter and we all laughed, looking over the menus together and deciding on some family style dishes to share.

It had been a little while since I had heard the gorgeous redhead in my arms say his infamous catch phrase, that hearing it tonight gave me a renewed pleasure and fondness for the word.

Only a matter of time now before things really settle down. The celebration is in full swing, and tonight only holds more surprises.

I can’t wait to see what tonight brings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS or affiliations. I merely decided to use the wonderful premise and write a fanfiction about some of my favorite characters. 
> 
> A/N: So here is the second chapter. Lots of fluff. More development on the relationship of Tai and Izzy amongst their friends. 
> 
> I have loved this couple for a long time and it has taken me forever to come up with the idea. But here is it. TAISHIRO! Digimon is one of my all-time favorite shows in the world and I hope that you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> This has the original Digimon Adventure Digidestined as well as season two. Now inspired by Digimon Adventure tri as a whole.
> 
> **Main couple: Taichi "Tai" Kamiya /Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi**
> 
> *elements of Yamato "Matt" Ishida/Sora Takenouchi, Joe Kido/Mimi Tachikawa, Takeru "T.K." Takaishi/Hikari "Kari" Kamiya
> 
> If you don't like gay fanfiction, well this isn't the story for you that's for sure ;)  
> Rated T for now, may change to a rated M later on in the story...


	3. Wounded Heart, Rising Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //TW: severe abuse, gay bashing, hospitalization, abuse, fighting, angst //
> 
> A weight had been lifted. A veil had been peeled off. Things were no longer suffocating. Before today, each day was getting harder and harder to hide the fact that Izzy and I were dating. 
> 
> It was like breathing. Everything we did was natural, subconscious. From holding hands, kissing, cuddling, among other things, just like everybody else. Their behavior was our behavior in a relationship. Humanly. We were in love. That was the simple truth. I love my red-headed, genius boyfriend.
> 
> There was always some backlash for us being gay. Not from our immediate friends and family, but it had been present in the community where we lived in the past. There were some kids that I used to be on the soccer team with that no longer speak to me because they saw me kiss Izzy once....

As our group sat waiting for our food, I took a moment to gaze around at our friends, engaging happily and excitedly together. It had been a whirlwind, this elated buzz since we shared our secret with our friends—our family. We were out together, proudly. Something I had always imagined, but had doubted back in the depths of my mind. Lucky for us, I was wrong about those doubts.

I leaned back into the booth where we were sitting, arms crossed across my chest. Taking in the harmony of the moment. It was a really good feeling. A weight had been lifted. A veil had been peeled off. Things were no longer suffocating. Before today, each day was getting harder and harder to hide the fact that Izzy and I were dating.

It was like breathing. Everything we did was natural, subconscious. From holding hands, kissing, cuddling, among other things, just like everybody else. Their behavior was our behavior in a relationship. Humanly. We were in love. That was the simple truth. I love my red-headed, genius boyfriend.

There was always some backlash for us being gay. Not from our immediate friends and family, but it had been present in the community where we lived in the past. There were some kids that I used to be on the soccer team with that no longer speak to me because they saw me kiss Izzy once.

Not that I ever let that bother me, not on the outside that is, and not so easily that Izzy could see. I tried to hide that from him for a long time… To be strong for him, because I always knew that he was afraid of rejection. But one day I had to crack and let down that guard. That is what ultimately helped us get closer.

I mean I fell in love with Izzy regardless of what others thought about the gay community or homosexuality. The only reason Izzy and I kept quiet as long as we did was merely because he was worried about losing the people that we care about, and he had every right to worry. Especially with him growing up being adopted, granted the people that adopted him will always be his parents even though they were not all blood-related. They accepted him in every spectacular way that you can accept a person. That was love. My parents, they are good people and they love me very much and accept me for who I am in very much the same way Izzy’s parents support him.

And him and I are lucky to have family and friends that are supportive of our life choices. Granted we have never really given them much of a choice, even from back in the day at summer camp… But they grabbed on tight and never let go of that support. They have been with us through thick and thin and they always help with anything that they can.

Life finally feels pretty complete and I couldn’t be happier with the past few days that Izzy and I went through.

I felt movement to my side and glanced over at the smaller red-head sharing the booth with me, a stupid grin on my face as his dark eyes found mine.

“What is that look for, silly?” he brushed my hair away from my eyes.

“Just thinkin…”

“Again?” He jokingly retorted.

Which of course just made me grin wider. He’s such a tease. Sarcastic little nerdy brat.

“What do you think I have all this hair for if not for my big brain?”

“I thought it was to hold in all that hot air in your head,” Izzy repositioned himself beside me, closer, more snuggly.

“Are you calling me a hot-head?” I couldn’t help but laugh, “well, you wouldn’t be the first and I’m sure you won’t be the last. Anyway… pretty sure you know what I am thinking, handsome.”

The smaller-framed man by my side, glanced up with a smile on his face this time, not jokingly at all, but instead incredibly sincerely and pure.

“I do indeed. Thankfully, and I can see where the goofy grin is coming from,” he bent over and pecked my cheek.

“All joking aside… today has been pretty amazing so far,” I gazed around our family of Digidestined and then back at my lover who nodded his agreement. I could tell that he felt lighter from the moment I bluntly told everyone what was up with Izzy sporting my hoodie. It had set free the torment that often filled his mind with worries.

Mimi was watching us intently.

After Izzy shared how we had become an item, satisfying Yolei’s curiosity about us, I knew that each one of them was going to be asking us questions all night… possibly even longer. I mean we have been dating for over three years. Not to mention the years before that where we were heavily flirting and getting to know one another. They had a lot of information that they would want answered.

Izzy caught Mimi’s stare, while being snuggled to my form, and spoke up before I could. He often beat me to the punch in these moments.

“What is it, Mimi?” he asked, smiling gently.

Her smile suddenly matched his, joyfully, as she replied to his inquiry. “It’s funny, because literally nothing has changed with you two, except you can be more open and forward together in our presence. But you both look so much happier…. I am just admiring the glow that is radiating from you as a couple. It is very sweet.”

I raised a brow, chuckling.

Izzy nodded taking a moment to think about what she said.

“I never really knew what to expect when we were deciding to officially ‘come out’ to you all, there was always two options: that you would accept us, or reject us. There were times in the past when I thought, mentally prepare myself for the worst case scenario, but the nightmares about losing everyone after all we have been through together were horrendous. There would be a void inside that I don’t think could ever be filled. But there would also be a bigger void inside, if I lost Tai. So I had a miraculous third option, and that was to trust him, and he was always more confident that you would accept our status. That was the saving grace that I never imagined. And knowing that we have your support and love, there really aren’t any words to describe the elation that we feel,” he explained, seriously, wanting everyone to know that we truly appreciated them. “You are correct in your thinking, though. Nothing has changed, in us as ourselves. That’s like your love of cooking and fashion, or even the trait that your crest represents inside you. Others think that coming out as gay, or any of the other identifications in the LGBT+, alters your personality or who you are as a person. But instead it is just a key to unlock the cage that we feel emotionally placed into by the conformity of a general society that sees heterosexuality as the cultural norm. I am still that computer nerd with a vocabulary that exceeds most adults and children’s capacity of understanding, and Tai is still his fun-loving, brave, courageous sports star turned rock star with the openness and boldness of everyone wrapped up in one. Being gay is just a label.”

Sora smiled as his words began to sink in to the group. Everyone had gotten really quiet, as they usually did when Izzy explained anything. His brain always got us out of a tough bind, and this was no different.

“That was a really great way to explain your feelings on that subject, Izzy. You would make an excellent spokesperson or even a counselor for others who are going through or have went through the same or similar experiences.”

“I have never really thought about that, but thank you, Sora.” Izzy gave a sheepish smile. The attention was on him mostly right now and the more that my incredible nerd was in the limelight the more uncomfortable he could get. Unless he determined it to be so, he really hated being the center of attention.

Which, unlike me, that was most often my area of comfort. I liked the attention, I always have.

“We have gone to a group session for adolescents in the LGBT+ community in the past years and they have told both of us that we would make great speakers at conferences and events for gays,” I shrugged, still with a smile on my face, turning everyone’s attention from Izzy to me. He shot me a grateful expression that was subtle enough that the others wouldn’t suspect a thing, but he was relieved of the spot light for a moment. “But I have never felt compelled to speak on the matter. I don’t think that it needs to be a separate issue. I know that it can be with society, but in our group, our friends, our family this has never been a big issue and there are some kids that go through a lot of trauma. I think that it would be rude of us to be like ‘yeah our friends and family were cool with everything’ if they were going through a hard time. So, we’ve kept to ourselves. Though, it is really amazing having you all here celebrating with us.”

Matt spoke up, with more questions.

“So, you started dating after graduation, for a few months our group separated trying to figure out all that we were doing, how did that affect you two?”

Izzy looked up thoughtfully.

“Well, at the time it was nice. There was no pressure to pretend. It gave Tai and me a breath of fresh air to figure out the beginning of our relationship and helped us form the foundation. It was new, our friendship shifted from just being friends to being boyfriends. Trying to navigate that was interesting.” He replied with a chuckle.

Across the table Kari let a giggle slip.

“They were so funny. They talked on the phone a lot, so much. And then Izzy was over most nights, or Tai was gone most nights. We either saw them a ton or not at all,” she sent me a knowing smile making heat rise to my cheeks. It was ridiculous having my baby sister say things like that.

I glanced over at my boyfriend who looked calm to my surprise. Then again he was pretty logical, that or what Kari was implying went over his head for a minute. I waited a few seconds before whispering into his ear to explain and suddenly his face lit up red.

His wide eyes shot over at my sister and he shook his head.

“Oh, silly, we’re all adults here… basically,” Mimi interjected before any of us could speak again.

“But still…” Izzy sputtered, “Kari, wow. I just wasn’t expecting that.”

T.K. bust up laughing and the rest of the group followed. “Really? She is related to your boyfriend. I would think that you would expect at least that.”

I couldn’t hold in my laughter at his reaction and T.K.’s response any longer, which earned me a sharp jab in my ribcage from my still surprised boyfriend.

“She is a very straightforward and honest girl, and combined with having me for a brother, I know that you weren’t really surprised by her statements. She was being honest after all.” I replied, grumbling as I nursed my sore ribs where he tried to make me shut up.

“You are also that way, Izzy. Maybe slightly more innocent in your thinking, but you are honest and straightforward,” came Joe’s interjection.

I glanced up at him, grateful to someone else close to Izzy’s intellectual level for speaking up and contributing to the conversation at this time.

My boyfriend’s face was flushed, lessening at a slow rate, but he nodded to acknowledge Joe’s reply.

“While that may be true, on both parts…” Izzy glanced up at me and his dark eyes narrowed, but mostly in a joking glare, as he spoke, “The Kamiya siblings here are so blunt and hardly innocent. Though Kari much more so than Tai here.”

I couldn’t help but laugh along with the group. It really did feel good just sitting here relaxing away with our best friends in the world. The only thing that could have made it better was if our Digimon partners were here to celebrate with us. Though, they would have been able to pick up our feelings before anyone else in the group could have anyway.

Davis piped up once the laughter had died down and once my boyfriend’s cheeks had returned to their normal pale color.

“So have you gotten any negative feedback from people in your lives recently?”

Izzy met Davis’ eyes with a slight frown and nodded. It hadn’t been him that had received the negative reaction, per say, as it had been when he was younger, but he was the one who spoke up about it before I could even register the painful memory. And it was a painful memory, I stress. I decided to sit back and just listen until I felt it was appropriate to talk about.

“Some guys on Tai’s old soccer team reacted poorly one day after we graduated and one of them happened to walk out of the locker room when Tai and I were leaving after a game…” He glanced at me as if to ask permission to talk about the memory.

I gave an affirmative nod to let him know we could talk about it; as painful as the memory was, our friends deserved to know the truth about that day. They knew certain details, but the story we had told them at the time, was very different than what they were about to hear.

“I’ll take it from here actually, babe,” I responded and he instinctively held onto my hand as I begun the tale…

* * *

~~FLASHBACK~~

_“Tai!”_

_I turned around in the locker room of our high school hearing my name. I saw a familiar face that could only make me grin from ear to ear._

_It had been a while since I had been back here. My friends and I had graduated several months prior, but the coach wanted me and a few other alumni to join the team tonight for the kickoff game to open up soccer season._

_I can’t say that I hadn’t missed being a part of the team immensely. We had won by a landslide, of course._

_“Hey Iz,” I responded to my boyfriend as he plopped down on the bench beside me as I finished packing up my gym bag and tied my shoes after showering and changing now that the game was over._

_Izzy had been such a faithful partner, like he always has been, and came to the game to see me shine. He was one of the most supportive people that I knew right alongside my sister and parents. I really enjoyed having him there to cheer me on._

_He smiled brightly at me, “Almost ready to go?”_

_“Yup, I just need to grab my towel from the shower.”_

_I stood up from the bench and hurried over to fetch the last of my personal items. The locker room was sparse. Most of the other guys from the team were gone, though there were still a couple also finishing up getting dressed and whatnot._

_Izzy and I were usually very careful in public about how we addressed each other in order to maintain our “secret” and relationship status under wraps. Just to be safe._

_Today was no different._

_I picked up my bag and nodded to Izzy to let him know that we could duck out and go wherever it was that he was excited to go._

_I think we were going to meet up with our friends; it had been so long since graduation and we hadn’t really been able to catch up on the new “adult life” that so many of us were living. College, jobs, and moving out of our parents’ homes were big life mile-markers that we were hitting._

_Izzy stood and walked with me out of the locker room._

_“Matt text me and told me that we’re all meeting for dinner,” he stated with a happy smile._

_I glanced at my phone, smiling as well._

_“Oh, I guess he text me too. I was so hyped for the game I never got a chance to check it. Thank god I have you to keep me in the loop with our friends,” I replied sheepishly._

_“Is that really surprising, you goof ball?”_

_“No, of course not. I am terrible at remembering to reply to texts. I check them though…” I could only laugh as Izzy stopped to fix my sweatband. “That’s gotta count for something, right?”_

_Izzy grinned but shook his head. “I guess it counts, but is it helpful? Not exactly.” He teased me._

_I shot Matt a quick response letting him know that I was in and would be there for dinner along with everyone else, but that I wanted to drop my soccer stuff at home before heading over._

_‘Ok cool, just meet us at our favorite restaurant. Do you know if Izzy is coming?’ came the reply from Matt._

_I gazed up at my red-head._

_“Did you tell the gang that you were going?” I asked casually._

_Izzy suddenly turned the same shade as his hair and clumsily pulled his phone from his laptop briefcase that he carried with him constantly. He checked his messages and then gave me a mirror image of my sheepish grin not a moment earlier, scratching the back of his head nervously._

_“I never hit send… so, no… I did not.”_

_I typed a quick text back to Matt in response, ‘Yes, Izzy is going to be there. I will pick him up on the way over to the meeting joint. See ya soon.’_

_Without even thinking, I leaned forward and kissed Izzy. As if it were a breath that I needed to take; I responded out loud to him._

_“Don’t worry, you’re covered. They are expecting us both anyway, ba….babe… b-bro…” a stutter; and before I could stop the words from falling from my lips, I looked panicked about the room. Granted the word was strained because I was in the middle of catching myself, but there were other guys left in the room. And I had the sickening realization of my action that had naturally occurred._

_I kissed Izzy in a public place, while we were both very deep in the closet._

_I tried to calm myself. I was silently praying that no one had heard or saw anything. Or that none of the guys were paying attention to us at all, but the dark, widened eyes of my lover were holding a silent conversation with mine. The room had gone dead quiet as well._

_I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my head and knew my blood pressure was skyrocketing. I felt as if I could vomit at any given second._

_Shit… Shit, shit, shit!!! I internally cursed at myself. I was usually so good about the no pet-name thing, and public displays of affection had never once been a big issue. God, I hate myself sometimes._

_Especially right now. If something happens to us… to Izzy, because of me, I will never be able to forgive my actions._

_Never._

_I shoved the rest of my things in my bag and grabbed my t-shirt, pulling it over my head while simultaneously tossing my backpack to Izzy—who caught it flawlessly, even in a panic himself—and practically jogged out the doors. Forcing an already-eager-to-leave-Izzy to be right at my heels._

_We were close to escaping, when the coach walked into view. He had a huge grin on his face of pride at our championship spirit and teamwork in this kick-off game of the season and making his way towards us. He was spitting out conversation a mile-a-minute. Mostly congratulatory, but he halted._

_Probably seeing how pale I suddenly was, and the fact that the guys, that had been in the locker room with us, were now right behind us._

_Coach glanced at them and then at me; his face went stoic. As it usually did when he suspected a fight or argument between players. It was his way of keeping away from being bias against the situation._

_“What happened?”_

_I opened my mouth to answer, barely mumbling out a high-pitched ‘nothing’ that was utterly unconvincing, to say the least._

_However, it was overpowered by a very loud statement from one of the guys behind us. And his statement was very crude._

_“Fags happened. There has been a queer on our team, probably for years. Exploiting us, ogling us, probably jerking off in the bathrooms… the showers, man!”_

_There was a chorus of ‘ews’ and ‘gross, stupid fag’ being thrown in my face._

_Hot tears were trying to surface in my tearducts, desperately making their way to escape. Izzy was so pale he almost looked translucent, and he looked like he had just been run over by a Mac truck._

_Our coach, correction… MY coach was peering at the group with narrowed eyes. Narrowed to slits. Almost a glare, but almost like he was trying to see if they were bluffing._

_And suddenly I realized that maybe, just maybe, if Izzy and I didn’t look so… caught—deer in the headlights—so vulnerable in this moment… maybe we could have fooled him into thinking that the others were lying. We could have flipped it around into a joke, or a ‘dare’ possibly._

_But I was tired of hiding it. I was exhausted from hiding in the shadows of a shiny ‘straight’ lie that I played out every single day. Out in public, anyway._

_“That is really offensive, you know, Sorin,” I blurted out angrily. Forcibly wiping the hot wetness from my eyes._

_My coach turned to me looking appalled. For the first time, I realized how homophobic many people were. Including the role model that I had looked up to for a good majority of my life. Coach._

_“You were supposed to disclose ~_ that _~ information, your homosexuality, before you were on the team.”_

_“Fine you want it “straight”, Coach? I’m gay. I am a man who is attracted to other men, there is no where it says that I had to disclose my sexuality in order to be on the team!” I practically shouted in his face, “I knew it was frowned upon, and I didn’t tell any of you because I knew you would kick me off the team. And I am a damn good soccer player, a star, and you fucking know it. But I won’t apologize for who I am. And I am not on your team anymore. Literally or figuratively. Have the women.”_

_I turned on my heel to lead Izzy to the car, but was grabbed by a couple of the team members, with a seething coach towering over me._

_“I should strip you of your scholarship, and can easily smear your name. Everybody knows the Infamous Kamiya. You’re right you were a star, a bright, shining, talented star who just lost his credibility because he is a LIAR.” My coach spat in my face._

_Izzy lurched forward with horror in his eyes, but he was blocked by other members. I shook my head at him sharply, while visibly shaking. To try and compel him to stay where he was. If he tried to help me, he could get hurt. God, if they touch him, I was going to lose my shit. But I had a feeling that they knew he was a weaker man._

_No, they wanted to ~_ scare~ _him. They wanted to ~_ hurt~ _me._

_I could take them hurting me. Humiliating me. My pride, my ego, could be beaten and bruised… somehow I could manage to bounce back. But I couldn’t even bear the thought of them hurting my Koushiro… my Izzy. Let alone watching them hurt him._

_I was being held by two guys; they were built a little bigger than me, but nothing I usually couldn’t handle. I fought Matt in the past—in high school even, and he and I were fairly evenly matched._

_But fear cast through me as my coach turned his back to the team and dialed a number on his phone._

_If Izzy could get paler, he did. There was literally no color in his skin. Frankly, I think it was turning a more yellow color… or green, from feeling sick to his stomach._

_I didn’t know who my coach called. It didn’t really matter. But I knew that it was someone, or ones, to come and help with… this. Whatever you call this._

_My jaw was tight; my teeth were grinding against each other painfully._

_I knew I was going to throw up. I could taste the rancid bile forcing its way up my throat. It was just a matter of when._

_I couldn’t move, no matter how much I wanted to, due to the intense grip these guys had on my biceps. I almost passed out from not breathing. The world around me was spinning._

_When I brought my eyes up to focus—I held my head up indignantly; there were more sports stars, more alumni. Bigger, thicker, terrifyingly stronger men walking up to the coach. I hadn’t paid mind to what my coach had said to them._

_Izzy was silently sobbing as he watched those people walk up to me._

_Coach still had his back turned. Assuming, he was keeping an eye out for other faculty. Like the current principal. To make it seem as though he had nothing to do with this._

_They were going to beat me. That much I knew. How badly, I couldn’t really fathom._

_In my mind I was silently wondering if we were able to call the cops, or tell the cops after everything settled down, what would happen? What justice would I see? I couldn’t find anything reassuring, evidence-wise to back up my desire to tell the police anything._

_The first blow was blinding. It was a sharp, crushing punch to the stomach and upper ribcage > And while I felt it there, I saw white in my eyes. A flash. _

_Everything else after that first blow was excruciating enough that it was numbing. I couldn’t force myself to cry even though all I wanted to do was slump to a heap and sob for eternity. I had to hold it in. They were not going to break me. They could break my body, but not my mind. Not my soul, not my determination._

_I knew things were broken, things on my body were bleeding._

_Out of the corner of the one eye that was still open enough to see consciously, I saw movement towards my boyfriend and I just couldn’t let them hurt him._

_So I grabbed the guy, and used all my might to throw him away._

_“Run!” I rasped out, dragging my boyfriend behind me._

_I could hear everything that was thumping (heart, blood coursing through my veins, other bodily functions that are natural) in my head. The adrenaline was so high I made Izzy run faster than I had ever seen either of us run before._

_I got him into my car. We could come back for his at a safer time and with him driving, we peeled out of the parking lot and he spun the car out (almost) to get to the urgent care._

_I was in too poor of shape to do anything with our friends tonight. For a lot of nights… possibly a lot of months._

_At some point I lost consciousness and I woke up in the hospital with my parents (awfully) worried faces, and a terrified sister in the room with me._

_My mind tried to remember what had happened in the interim. Where was my boyfriend? Our families knew that we were together by now. Not our friends, yet, but our families had known for a while._

_I tried to sit up, but I was basically wrapped from head to toe in gauze, ace bandages, and casting. There were stitches and an I.V. drip attached to my arm. I knew that I had bruises and abrasions all over my body, and my lips were dry, chapped and busted. I knew because my voice was raspy and almost gone. Dry throat… Everything hurt. Literally everything._

_They busted my balls even._

_My mother was the first to pipe up, in the highest, screechy and scared voice I have ever heard her use._

_“My… my poor baby boy, Tai… who did this to you? What the HELL happened?”_

_I just shook my head. I don’t know what Izzy told them. No doubt he was conscious, even though highly traumatized at the situation at hand._

_I could barely move._

_“Where’s Izzy?” I croaked out._

_Kari looked at me with her saddest doe eyes._

_“Downstairs in the lobby, sobbing uncontrollably. He hasn’t said a word to any of us. He hasn’t been able to speak. The doctors think he has lost his voice from crying so hard. Whatever happened to you both, it’s so serious and you need to tell us, now.”_

_Kari was never demanding, but right now there was a hardness and an underlying anger that I have never heard come from her. My father and mother were nodding their agreement, begging me to tell them details._

_“I need to see him before we tell you… I have to tell him that I’m okay.”_

_“You’re not okay!” My mother shouted, too loud._

_We were in a hospital and the door was open. The nurses station was right outside and you could immediately hear a rustling and pattering of feet as some came to check on us all._

_Check on me. The patient. The admitted patient because he had almost been beaten to death for being gay._

_I cast my gaze down._

_One nurse walked over to us. To my bed._

_“Is everything alright? Tai you’re awake.” She was speaking right to me. I was conscious after all, and now my own guardian again. Unconscious it went to immediate family. My mother, of course._

_I liked this part of being an adult, to a point._

_“Yeah, I’m as alright as one can be in my predicament. I need to see someone. They are in the lobby. Izzy. Go get Izzy and we will talk. I’m fine.”_

_Kari didn’t wait for anyone else to respond before she hurried out of the room and whichever way the lobby was from where my room stood on the hospital floor._

_No one else talked until Izzy and his parents walked in the room alongside Kari. The nurse had done a quick check up on my vitals, but she grabbed the doctor when I had agreed to talk with Izzy present._

_When my boyfriend entered the room our eyes locked and he reflected the most sorrowful expression back into my eyes. He could barely tolerate seeing me like this and I could barely watch him do so._

_He walked over and held the small portion of one of my hands that wasn’t wrapped up in a cast. I couldn’t really feel or grip his hand back, but I could feel the warmth radiating through my fingertips from his._

_I was grateful he was here with me now. I needed him, his strength. But I was upset that we had been attacked for being together._

_I didn’t know whether the news would spread from the team and our coach. It might spread some, but honestly I think it is going to fizzle out. They basically kicked me off the team and removed their acknowledgement of my existence prior to knowing I was gay, now that they know the truth._

_The doctor looked at me firmly, wanting information._

_I didn’t even meet his gaze or anyone else in the room but Izzy’s gaze and held it; using all my focus to stay conscious for his sake. Even though I felt like I could fall into the dark abyss and never wake back up with how much pain I was in._

_“We were jumped. We were leaving the locker room after the soccer game, on the way to meet up with our friends and the two of us were jumped. I defended Izzy, I’m a little stronger, so they mostly got to me. Luckily.”_

_Izzy’s eyes overflowed again and he just threw his arms around my neck, sobbing. Not being careful of my condition. I didn’t mind at all; I wanted to touch him. I was just mad that I was tied up and wrapped up so tightly that I couldn’t hold him back._

_“That sounds like a lie.” Came the doctor’s response. “You had a lot of head trauma. Are you sure?”_

_“He is telling the truth! How dare you tell a man in his condition who has clearly told you that he is cognitively aware enough to relay what happened to us that he is a liar. How dare you!” Izzy reacted immediately. Probably because we had just been accused of being liars before we were attacked._

_It was going to be a touchy subject for a long time._

_Everyone looked shocked at his outburst. Except me. But the others knew that Izzy was consistently a truth-teller. He was one of the most honest people I had in my life._

_Izzy’s mother shook her head at the doctor. “Not that Tai is a kid that lies, but my son is the ultimate honest child. He wouldn’t tell a lie to save his life. Truly. If they say that they were jumped, they were. Maybe they don’t even know the other details. You said it yourself, doctor, they have been through a lot of trauma.”_

_I laid my head back with relief when the doctor dropped the accusation and apologized to us all._

_“We can’t report it to the police unless you want to do that. Do you remember what your assailant’s looked like?” he asked._

_“I don’t want to report them. I just want to heal and forget about it. I didn’t die. Report what happens if I die next time.” Was all I said before fading unconscious again._

_They must have let it go because I was in the hospital for almost two weeks and no one asked again. Not from the hospital anyway. Our friends were told about what happened. From Kari probably._

_Because Izzy had become a recluse again, staying loyally by my side until they released me from the hospital and even after that because we lived together and he helped take care of me while I healed back to normal. It took several months and a lot of physical therapy again to get through it all._

* * *

That memory, that particular day, is still just as vivid in my head now as it had been when I woke up in the hospital.

Our friends were silent. A pin could drop and it would sound like a bomb going off in the space of the restaurant.

Izzy fidgeted and held my hand, gazing over at me to make sure that I was okay. I gently squeezed back.

I really hated talking about what happened back then. But I hadn’t wanted to worry our friends which looking back was probably stupid… especially if they all already kinda knew that Izzy and I had been together.

Matt spoke up first, pulling me back to the present.

Izzy and I looked up at him as he talked.

“I really wish you had told us what really happened that day. With all the times you and I have fought, Tai, I would have been right there by your side to fight back against those douchebags. Maybe then you wouldn’t have been so hurt.”

“I would have been there, too!” It was Sora, and she was sobbing. Almost as hard as Izzy and Kari had been the day that I woke up in the hospital for the first time.

It was Joe who spoke next.

“Honestly, we all would have been there. Maybe it is partially our fault. Everyone’s. We knew that you and Izzy were gay. Even at the time. We could have made a difference. You two wouldn’t have had to have been so alone.” He lamented.

Even Mimi had a straight and hard frown on her face. She was mad at the coach and the guys from our school.

“I can’t stand school authorities and faculty who cannot put their personal opinions aside and act professionally, as they should, in a time like that. He egged those boys on. You got hurt because your coach can’t handle a little dick.” She said angrily.

“Or maybe he can, he obviously has one.” I mentioned, making the room lighter. Everyone laughed. Who can’t laugh at a small dick joke, right?

I am grateful for all of their support. But my intention for telling everyone that story wasn’t for them to feel guilty or take blame.

I cleared my throat.

“Thank you, guys. Honestly. I wish we had just told you all sooner, too. I do. But I don’t want you to think that it was in any way your faults. I couldn’t have taken those guys bullying and beating any one of you either. The way I couldn’t take them beating Izzy. I took the brunt of the beating… all of the beating, because that’s my job. As leader, as… as his boyfriend. As anyone who cares about the people in his life that are truly important to him. I guess that kinda makes me a martyr right now,” I looked up earnestly into their eyes. Trying to relay how much I respected the fact that they were my family. I knew they loved me, and I loved every one of them. I loved Kari and Izzy most, but they were all a close tie for second. “It happened and I am here to tell the tale. If…. If anything happened in the future, I promise, the second danger comes our way, you will all get a group text for emergency assimilated 911 message or call. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.”

I was crying. I hated crying in front of everyone. But this seemed appropriate.

There was a murmur of agreement in the crowd of friends in front of me. This was where Izzy and I belonged. He would help me keep that promise.

And I will still fight for me, and for him, forevermore. We’re gay, what can I say? I love him and no matter what else comes our way, we will handle things together. Not just Izzy and Tai, but Izzy, Tai and our friends. Our friends who couldn’t give a crap that we are gay because being gay is not just who or what we are. Our friends love us for being Izzy and Tai, and that is the best feeling of acceptance in the entire world.

Izzy brought my hand up to place a gentle kiss and stared into my eyes for a moment while it was silent between everyone.

“Next time I fight, too. I promise.”

All I could think of in response was to kiss him. God, did I mention how much I love this man? I do. I really, really do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS or affiliations. I merely decided to use the wonderful premise and write a fanfiction about some of my favorite characters. 
> 
> A/N: So here is the third chapter! More fluff. This chapter did contain a lot of drama, hurt, sadness, but mostly resolution and love, and acceptance of themselves and from their friends and family. Love all around. Thank you so much Taishiro fans, and anyone who has ever felt something like this, or anyone who has lived like this or had any awful horrendous experiences in similar fashion. There is hope. There is love out there. Please feel free to PM me. I am a great listener if you feel there is no one you can talk to. Honestly. No mentioning any boundaries for this. It is not limited to anyone’s sexuality or orientation. Just in general, relationships. 
> 
> Let me know what you think. Comment, reviews are welcome! Please and thank you so much for reading! This is a chapter story, so the next chapter will be coming,
> 
> I have loved this couple for a long time and it has taken me forever to come up with the idea. But here is it. TAISHIRO! Digimon is one of my all-time favorite shows in the world and I hope that you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> This has the original Digimon Adventure Digidestined as well as season two. With Digimon Adventure Tri out now, I got inspired.
> 
> **Main couple: Taichi "Tai" Kamiya /Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi**
> 
> *elements of Yamato "Matt" Ishida/Sora Takenouchi, Joe Kido/Mimi Tachikawa, Takeru "T.K." Takaishi/Hikari "Kari" Kamiya
> 
> If you don't like gay fanfiction, well this isn't the story for you that's for sure.  
> Rated T for now, may change to a rated M later on in the story...


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